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Greek National Nikolaous Bouikidis Gets 18 Years in Bali Prison for Drug Smuggling

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(5/13/2012)

A Greek Bus driver was sentence to 18 years in Jail on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, by the Denpasar District Court, after being found guilty of smuggling 4.2 kilograms of methamphetamine into Bali via the island’s airport.

Nikolaous Bouikidis (36) was also ordered to pay a fine of Rp. 10 billion (US$1.09) or have an additional three months added to his long sentence.

As reported previously by Balidiscovery.com, prosecutors were seeking life imprisonment for Bouikidis after being caught with the drugs after landing in Bali off a Qatar Airways flight on October 3, 2011.

Quoting the presiding judge in the case, The Jakarta Post estimates the street value of the smuggled drugs was Rp. 10.5 billion (US$1.14 million). The judge, Parulian Saragih, said, “the defendant’s crime may taint the image of Bali island as a tourist destination.” The judge also opined that the Greek was a member of an international narcotics ring based in Turkey.

Bouikidis told the court that he acted only as a courier, paid US$5,000 to smuggle the drugs.

The Greek told the court he would accept the sentence without appeal, proclaiming to the court “I am stupid.”